quentell



(NoModeL) P. UENTELL.

LACE CATCH. No. 309,981." Patented Dec. 30, 1884.

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N. PETERS. FhoIu-Lllhagmpher. Washington. D. c

UNITE STATES WILLIAM P. QUENTELL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LACE-CATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 309,981, dated December30, 188%.

(X0 model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM P. QUENTELL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at the city of New York, in the-county and State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Lace-Catches and inthe Meth- 0d of Making the Same; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description thereo reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, and the letters of reference thereon, whichform part of this specification.

The object of my invention is a catch to h0ld fast in position the laceused on shoes, corsets, and other garments employing laces or cords; andit consists of a holding device adapted to readily receive the lace orcord by simply drawing it against and into the opening in the catch, tograsp it automatically, to retain it in position, and to permit of readyand easy disengagement by simply drawing or pulling the cord or laceaway from the catch, thereby avoiding the tying and untying of knots,which on shoes are often soiled; and which are frequently troublesome tountie; and my invention further consists of an improved method of makingsuch catches.

Figure 1 represents a blank forming the base of my catch before theparts have been bent into position. Fig. 2 represents ablank forming theeccentric 9 before being bent into shape. Fig. 8 represents theeccentric 9 formed into shape. Fig. 4 represents the spring h. Fig. 5represents the parts adjusted to each other, and. Fig. 6 represents thecompleted catch applied to a shoe.

A is what I call the base-piece or plate,

as the other parts are adjusted to or within it,

and it forms the means of attachment to the garment. This plate may bestruck or cut out of a sheet of metal or any suitable material, and itmay have the portions formed into the pins or spurs f f f, which areconvenient for attaching my device to garments. It has also the upperpart, a, which is bent downward at right angles to the part (I; thelower part, e, which is bent upward at right angles to the part d andforms the bearing-plate; the part b, which is also bent at right anglesto the part (2 and parallel to the parts a 6, while the portion a isfurther bent at rightangles to the part b, and parallel to the partd, sothat the eyeholes in the parts 0 and d will come opposite to each other;or, if desired, the parts I) 0 may be omitted and the part a extended toform the eyepiece c, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and this part 0further bent downward, so that the eye-hole in it willcome opposite tothe eye-hole in the part d. It desired, the corners of the part 0 may bebent downward, or they ma y be hammered out thin, or otherwise bentrounded, so as to leave no sharp point for the cord to catch on or chafeagainst.

g is the eccentric, which is formed of a blank of metal or othersuitable material, having portions thereof formed into the pivots g g,which operate in the eye-holes in the parts 0 (Z, and it is suitablycorrugated, as shown, to give it greater holding power. Itis formedintothe shape shown in Fig. 3,and a suitable spring, h, Fig. 4, is inclosedwithin it when it is in position on the base-plate A. The spring may bemade of any suitable material having sufficient resiliency, preferablymetal but I have found that sections of small soft-rubber tubing, andalso pieces of solid rubber, will answer the purpose very well for atime.

The pins f f f form convenient means for at taching the catch togarments, 2150.; but any suitable device may be employed-such as astaple, t, as shown in Fig. 6, orany other appropriate fastening.

The method of operation is as follows: When the garment or other articleis to be laced, or when the lace has been drawn to about the tensiondesired, it is drawn against the lacecatch and into the opening betweenthe plate e and the eccentric g. This raises the eccentric and permitsthe lace to be drawn inward laterally, andto lie between the eccentric gand plate 6 and against the side of the part d, and when the loose endof the lace is released the eccentric bears down upon it and holds itfirmly against the plate e. The loose end may then be tucked into thegarment or otherwise suitably adjusted. To release the lace, it is onlynecessary to draw it away from the catch laterally, when it readilyslips out;

In catches or fasteners as heretofore made, which have been open topermit the engagement of the cord at any part of its length, the

structures have been organized to support the eccentric or other holdingdevice only on one side, and this in such small devices as lacecatchesis a serious objection, as the parts are necessarily small, and thepivot when supported on one side only soon bends, and the catch binds inoperation by reason of not be ing supported on both sides and becomesuseless. On the other hand, when such structures have been provided withsupports for the cam on both sides, it has been done by inclosing thecam in a box and soldering or riveting the spring in place and solderingor riveting the parts together, providing only a small opening throughwhich the cord must be inserted endwise, and the cam held away from thelace by independent action to permit disengagement, such structuresbeing expensive to make and inconvenient to use. overcome theseobjections, I have reorganized the structure entirely; and my inventionconsists, essentially, of a lace-catch in which the parts are contrivedso that the carrying portion of the structure can be struck out of onepiece of metal and bent into shape to form the base-plate A,bearing-plate c, and provid ing two eye-holes on opposite sides, tosupport the eccentric on both sides, in combination with an eccentric,also struck out of one piece of nietah'having the pivots g r/, and bentinto shape to inclose the operating-spring h, no soldering or rivetingbeing required anywhere in the structure, whereby the same is made withless labor and much more quickly and cheaply than other similarstructures, the spring is not likely to be broken off, as-in cases wherethe spring is soldered onto some part, there are fewer parts, they aresimpler,

can be made stronger, and occupy less space, are less liable to get outof order, will wear better, and are more convenient in use than anysimilar structures heretofore made.

This device can be cheaply made and easily applied, and, if desired, canbe made so small as not to project more than an ordinary shoebntton.

I am aware of Letters Patent No. 213,666, in which a shoe-fastener isdescribed having a cam operated by a spring; but in that structnre it isnecessary to push the lace in endwise between the cam and the bearing,and it is therefore practically convenient only for stiff laces orcords, and in such structure, also, it is necessary to hold the cam awayfrom the bearing, in order to effect a disengagement of the lace andwhile efleeting such disengagement, and I do not claim any suchstructure; but,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

As an improved article of manufacture, the lacecatch described,consisting of the carry i'ng part A, having bearing-plate c, aportion,as b, uniting two pivot-supports, c (l, to support the eccentric on bothsides, in combination with the eccentric g, having pivots g g, andinclosing the spring [1, and provided with an exposed opening betweenthe bearing-plate and the eccentric to receive the lace, substantiallyas specified.

WILLIAM r. UENTELL.

\Vitnesses:

ERNEST H. PILSB'URY, FRANK XV. ELY.

